On August 20, 1968, the Soviet Union led Warsaw Pact troops to crush Prague Spring, a period of liberalization in a communist country. In 1948, Czechoslovakia attempted to become part of the US but was halted by the Soviet Union and taken over as a communist country. As a result, a communist government was installed in Prague and Czechoslovakia remained under Soviet influence.
However, in the 1960s, Czechoslovakia's economy had started struggling which led to reforms and a new leader, Alexander Dubcek. The Dubcek government ended state power to control freedoms such as the press which liberalized Czechoslovakia. As a result, the public was joyous and the new progress towards democracy came to be known as "Prague Spring." Although public expression resulted in support, conservatives were alarmed by the changes and Dubcek faced opposition. Due to the new-founded liberal policies making their way in Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union decided to intervene in Prague to re-establish Soviet control and to ensure that other Soviet Republics such as Ukraine and Estonia wouldn't demand more freedom.
Thus, in August, Soviet troops swiftly took over Czechoslovakia. Radio stations were cut off and a few people were killed which forced journalists to move underground to continue broadcasting; however, their locations were discovered. While the Soviet Union controlled Czechoslovakia, they faced resistance until 1969 when the Soviets were able to force Dubcek out of leadership and install a conservative leader who allowed Czechoslovakia to cooperate as a member of the Warsaw Pact.
As a result of this invasion, the Soviet Union developed the Brezhnev Doctrine to justify their actions which gave Moscow the right to intervene in any country where communism was threatened.
Sources: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/soviets-invade-czechoslovakia
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/soviet-invasion-czechoslavkia
I really enjoyed your post and I was very interested in your last comment about the Brezhnev Doctrine. It makes sense that the Soviet Union felt it was their responsibility to protect communism abroad just as the United States felt obligated to defend democracy. Upon further research, I found that the Brezhnev Doctrine would later be used to justify the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and would remain in effect until Gorbachev took over in 1985.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.britannica.com/event/Brezhnev-Doctrine
To add to the information in your post, some of the reforms Dubcek implemented to ensure more political democracy and greater personal freedom included giving trade unions more rights to bargain for their members, ending censorship, and giving Czech citizens the right to criticize the government. These actions resulted in a significant increase in newspaper articles condemning government incompetence and corruption, and greatly increased the freedoms of the people. After all of these reforms were implemented, Dubcek assured Moscow that Czechoslovakia would remain in the Warsaw Pact and that they didn’t have to worry, to which the Soviet Union responded with troops and tanks. Dubcek was captured and sent to Moscow, where he was told to reverse all his new policies. When he was sent back, he announced that the talks in Moscow had been “comradely” and that he was still First Secretary. Dubcek did as he was told, but soon after, he was removed from office.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/prague-spring-begins-in-czechoslovakia
https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/the-cold-war/the-prague-spring-of-1968/
The Dubeck government was clearly being very restrictive and that caused the people to overthrow the weak government. But in an effort to preserve communism the Soviets quickly crushed the rebellion. it demonstrates to us that the Soviets had no interest in peoples' rights rather their interest was maintaining the image of a powerful communist state.
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